Herbert Vernon McKeehan, age 28, from Laporte, Indiana, LaPorte county.
Parents: Homer McKeehan
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: During the last week of October 1950, Republic of Korea (ROK) Army forces under the control of the U.S. Eighth Army were advancing deep in North Korean territory, approaching the Yalu River on the Chinese-Korean border. Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) struck back in a surprise attack, engaging the ROK 1st and 6th Divisions near Unsan, some sixty miles north of Pyongyang. The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, with the 8th Cavalry Regiment in the lead, was rushed forward to reinforce the ROK units in the Unsan area. On November 1, the regiment’s 1st Battalion took up positions north of Unsan, while the 2nd Battalion moved to guard the Nammyon River valley west of town, and the 3rd Battalion was placed in reserve at the valley’s southern end. Private First Class Herbert V. McKeehan, who joined the U.S. Army from Indiana, was a member of Company B of the 70th Tank Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, the CCF engaged in a sneak attack on U.S. forces stationed near Unsan. Despite fierce resistance, the American battalions were forced to withdraw. While 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 8th Cavalry Regiment were able to retreat that night, the heavy enemy presence complicated the withdrawal and led to severe losses. During the retreat, the tank that PFC McKeehan was riding in possibly got jammed up in a roadblock in Unsan. He is believed to have been killed after dismounting from the tank. He was not recovered at the time of his loss, and could not be associated with any of the remains that North Korean officials returned to U.S. custody following the conflict’s armistice. Today, Private First Class McKeehan is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, South Bend Tribune (1950)